


This Is How It Is

by ladyofdecember



Category: The Venture Bros
Genre: Angst, Best Friends, Grief/Mourning, Love Confessions, M/M, Spoilers through Season 7 Episode 2 Only!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-24
Updated: 2018-07-24
Packaged: 2019-06-15 20:19:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,097
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15420801
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ladyofdecember/pseuds/ladyofdecember
Summary: Billy tries his best to console a distraught White.





	This Is How It Is

**Author's Note:**

> I promise, there are only spoilers through the second episode of season 7! Obviously, at this point of posting, that's all we've seen so I left the bit about The Blue Morpho kind of ambiguous. Who knows what that will turn out to be! I wanted to try to write from White's perspective of feeling the way he would feel unintentionally hurting one of his best friends. After all, he hasn't got a lot of people in his life in the first place so the worst thing to do is to hurt the few you have.

After all the commotion with The Blue Morpho showing up and VenTech Tower nearly collapsing had died down, Billy began ushering an emotional White towards the front door and out towards the street.

The man had been beside himself when he realized what he'd done, nearly inconsolable. It wasn't as if Rusty had reprimanded him, well, except for a brief outraged cry before they were once again distracted by the chaos.

Still, White was a man with no small conscious. Sure, he was selfish at times, inherently self-involved but those that mattered to him mattered and the fact of the matter is, White has killed Rusty's father.

As Billy began tugging on White's exposed arm to head outside to the street, Colonel Gentleman and the rest of Team Venture began heading that way as well. It seemed Rusty had a lot to deal with, repairs to make, both relationship and building-wise.

“Well, young Billy, you and your S.O. ready to head home? It seems we've all overstayed our welcome here.” The man said, gesturing about the mess with his cane as The Action Man headed over to their car.

White said nothing, still paralyzed with a look of extreme dread so Billy plastered on an uneasy smile. “Uh, no! Well, I think we're gonna head home later. Maybe hang out a bit more.”

As they approached the car outside, the older man gave him a bit of a skeptic look. “You sure? These streets can get pretty mean late at night. It's not suitable for you young'ins to be out and about on your own!”

Billy began maneuvering a still mute White away from them and down the street. He called over his shoulder he hoped in a reassuring manner. “We'll be fine! Thanks!”

Satisfied with this, the two men got back in their car and drove away. After the two of them had taken a sufficient amount of steps away from the front of the building, Billy turned to look at his best friend.

He was still a mixture between absolute horror and grief and it broke the doctor's heart. “White... White, are you okay?”

Nothing. No response. The man just stood there staring ahead vacantly.

“White?!” He tried tugging on his bare arm once more, noting how under dressed the man was at the moment, though thankfully, it was long past sunset by now.

After several blinks and tugs of his arm, the albino slowly looked down at Billy. “I... I can't believe I did that.”

“White, it's okay.”

“No! No, it's not! It's not okay, Billy!” His voice raised an octave as panic began to overtake him. “I... I killed my friend's father!”

Billy pulled the scientist over to a nearby concrete barrier so they could both sit down and he could be more on eye level with the man. “No you didn't! White, you didn't do anything wrong! Jonas... he was... he was already dead. He died a long time ago.”

There was a moment of silence that passed between them with White staring blankly ahead and Billy fretfully watching him for any semblance of recognition. Suddenly, his eyes carried themselves over to VenTech Industries as the interior lights shut down. They must have gone upstairs finally. It was getting late. A check of his watch told him it was already nearing 11pm.

Billy sighed, glancing over the man he'd spent the better part of his life with. They'd been through a lot of things, witnessed a lot of terrible things but perhaps tonight had taken the cake. He worried this might break him. White didn't often let things bother him but this... this was different.

“White, why don't we go get some food somewhere? Huh? We could... uh, find a nice diner or somethin'? Get some breakfast?” He tried butting up against the man's shoulder with his own playfully but got no response.

Finally, the older man glanced down at him again. “Rust's gonna hate me now.”

The look of shiny look of the man's glossy eyes filled Billy with so much sadness and heartache, he didn't know if he could take it. He'd do anything to see the humor in them once more. “White, he's... he's not, okay? Look, he didn't even say anything about it before we left!”

“Exactly! Exactly, Billy! He hates me now! I... I killed-”

“No! You're wrong. You're not thinking clearly. Tonight was... it was crazy and upsetting. You just need some food, okay?”

White turned his whole body towards the man then, eyes wild and searching. “Why aren't you more upset about this?! You love Jonas! You... you used to worship him!”

“I worshiped Rusty.” Billy lightly corrected. “Although, I did kind of wish I could meet his dad someday.”

A pregnant paused moved between them as the air took on a dour turn once more. The doctor quickly moved to change the subject once more. “Seriously White, I'm starving here! Let's go eat!”

“You go. I'm... not hungry.”

“I'm not goin' without you!”

“Why not?”

“Because!”

White rolled his eyes and turned to the man again. “Because?”

He still looked so sad and so devastated. And so, Billy took a deep breath, reached deep down inside for some sort of bravery, anything to make the man in front of him whole again. “Because I love you, you dummy! And... and I don't go anywhere without you! So if you wanna sit out here all night and just be hungry, then I guess that's what we're doin'.”

He nervously stared at the building's bricks in front of them, unsure of himself and his choice of words though White seemed intrigued now.

He smiled down at him. “You what?”

Billy forced himself to glance back up. “I... I said I love you... dummy.” He added the last part on just to feel less embarrassment.

Grinning down at the doctor, White sniffled a bit, wiping at his nose and eyes and then stood up. “Okay, maybe we should go eat, ya know, 'cause it's late and all.”

Jumping to his feet, Billy reached out a hand to gently take White's in his as they continued down the street. 

If it was weird or overstepping boundaries in some way, White didn't comment. “What's even open this late?”

Shrugging as they walked hand in hand down the sidewalk, Billy smiled up at his pseudo-boyfriend or whatever they were nowadays. “I dunno. I figured diner because people love breakfast no matter what time of day!”

“That's true.”

A beat later.

“Hey Billy?”

“Yeah?”

“I love you too, ya know.”


End file.
